January 17
Events *38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. *1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca. *1377 - Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back from Avignon to Rome. *1524 - Beginning of Giovanni da Verrazzano's voyage to find a passage to China. *1562 - France recognizes the Huguenots under the Edict of Saint-Germain. *1595 - Henry IV of France declares war to Spain. *1605 - First publication of Don Quixote. *1648 - England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. *1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cowpens - Continental troops under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeat British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton at the battle in South Carolina. *1799 - Dun Mikiel Xerri, along with a handful of other patriots was shot, after that an attempted revolt went awry. *1819 - Simón Bolívar proclaims the Republic of Colombia. *1852 - United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Boer colonies of the Transvaal. *1873 - First Battle of the Stronghold in the US Modoc War. *1885 - A British force defeats a large Dervish army at the Battle of Abu Klea in the Sudan. *1893 - The Citizen's Committee of Public Safety, led by Lorrin A. Thurston overthrows the government of Queen Liliuokalani of the Kingdom of Hawaii. *1899 - The United States takes possession of Wake Island in the Pacific Ocean. *1904 - Anton Chekov's The Cherry Orchard premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre. *1912 - Sir Robert Falcon Scott (Scott of the Antarctic) reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen. *1913 - Raymond Poincaré is elected President of France. *1916 - The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) is formed. *1917 - The United States pays Denmark $25 million for the Virgin Islands. *1929 - Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, first appears in the Comic Strip Thimble Theatre. *1941 - Kuomintang forces under the order of Chiang Kai-Shek opened fire at communist force, Chinese Civil War resumes after WWII. *1945 - Soviet forces capture the almost completely destroyed Polish city of Warsaw. * 1945 - The Nazis begin the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp as Soviet forces close in. * 1945 - Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg disappears in Hungary while in Soviet custody. *1946 - The UN Security Council holds its first session. *1949 - The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs. *1950 - The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car Company's offices in Boston. *1956 - Allen Ginsberg writes his poem "America". *1961 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex." *1966 - A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping four 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident. *1973 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes "President for Life" of the Philippines. *1977 - Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah, ending a ten-year moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States. *1982 - "Cold Sunday" in the United States sees temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities. *1985 - British Telecom announces the retirement of the United Kingdom's famous red telephone boxes. *1991 - Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm began early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation. * 1991 - Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V. *1994 - A magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Northridge; see 1994 Northridge Earthquake. *1995 - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake (known as "the Great Hanshin earthquake") hits near Kobe, causing extensive property damage and killing 6,433 people. *1996 - The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union. *1997 - A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad. http://www.seds.org/spaceviews/9702/news.html *1998 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment. *2001 - President Bill Clinton posthumously raises Captain Meriwether Lewis' rank from Lieutenant to Captain. *2002 - Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people. *2007 - Doomsday Clock is set to five minutes to midnight in response to N. Korea nuclear testing Births *1463 - Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1525) *1484 - George Spalatin, German reformer (d. 1545) *1501 - Leonhart Fuchs, German physician and botanist (d. 1566) *1504 - Pope Pius V (d. 1572) *1560 - Gaspard Bauhin, Swiss botanist (d. 1624) *1600 - Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Spanish playwright (d. 1681) *1612 - Thomas Fairfax, English Civil War general (d. 1671) *1686 - Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (d. 1766) *1706 - Benjamin Franklin American statesman (d. 1790) *1712 - John Stanley, English composer (d. 1786) *1719 - William Vernon, American merchant (d. 1806) *1761 - James Hall, Scottish geologist (d. 1832) *1763 - John Jacob Astor, American entrepreneur (d. 1848) *1789 - August Neander, German theologian (d. 1850) *1820 - Anne Brontë, British author (d. 1849) *1828 - Lewis A. Grant, American Civil War General (d. 1918) *1831 - Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria (d. 1903) *1832 - Henry Martyn Baird, American educationalist (d. 1906) *1851 - A. B. Frost, American illustrator (d. 1928) *1853 - Alva Belmont, American socialite (d. 1933) *1858 - Tomás Carrasquilla, Colombian writer(d. 1940) *1860 - Douglas Hyde, President of Ireland (d. 1949) *1863 - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1945) * 1863 - Constantin Stanislavski, Russian theatre practitioner (d. 1938) *1867 - Carl Laemmle, German-born film executive (d. 1939) *1871 - David Earl Beatty British admiral (d. 1936) * 1871 - Nicolae Iorga, Romanian writer (d. 1940) *1875 - Florencio Sánchez, Uruguayan dramatist (d. 1910) *1880 - Mack Sennett, Canadian film director (d. 1960) *1881 - Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (d. 1941) *1882 - Noah Beery, American actor (d. 1946) *1886 - Glenn L. Martin, American aviation pioneer (d. 1955) *1899 - Al Capone, American gangster (d. 1947) * 1899 - Nevil Shute, English author (d. 1960) *1903 - Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Assamese poet, playwright, film maker (d. 1953) *1905 - Guillermo Stábile, Argentine footballer (d. 1966) * 1905 - Peggy Gilbert, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (d.2007) * 1905 - Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (d. 2005) *1908 - Cus D'Amato, American boxing manager (d. 1985) *1911 - George Joseph Stigler, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991) *1914 - William Stafford, American poet and essayist (d. 1993) * 1914 - Anacleto Angelini, Chilean businessman (d. 2007) *1917 - M. G. Ramachandran, Indian politician, actor (d. 1987) * 1917 - Ramón Cardemil, Chilean huaso (d. 2007) *1918 - Keith Joseph, British politician (d. 1994) *1921 - Antonio Prohias, Cuban cartoonist (d. 1998) *1922 - Luis Echeverría Álvarez, President of Mexico * 1922 - Nicholas Katzenbach, American politician * 1922 - Betty White, American actress *1925 - Robert Cormier, American author (d. 2000) * 1925 - Abdul Kardar, Pakistani cricketer *1926 - Newton N. Minow, American lawyer and statesman * 1926 - Moira Shearer, Scottish actress (d. 2006) *1927 - Eartha Kitt, American actress and singer *1928 - Jean Barraqué, French composer (d. 1973) * 1928 - Vidal Sassoon, English cosmetologist *1929 - Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1986) *1930 - Eddie LeBaron, American football player *1931 - James Earl Jones, American actor * 1931 - L. Douglas Wilder, 66th Governor of Virginia * 1931 - Don Zimmer, American baseball coach *1932 - Sheree North, American actress (d. 2005) *1933 - Dalida, French singer (d. 1987) * 1933 - Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, French UN High Commissioner for Refugees (d. 2003) * 1933 - Shari Lewis, American ventriloquist (d. 1998) *1935 - Ruth Ann Minner, Governor of Delaware *1939 - Maury Povich, American talk show host *1940 - Kipchoge Keino, Kenyan runner *1942 - Muhammad Ali, American boxer * 1942 - Ulf Hoelscher, German violinist * 1942 - Nancy Parsons, American actress (d. 2001) *1943 - René Préval, President of Haiti * 1943 - Geoffrey Deuel, American actor * 1943 - Chris Montez, American singer *1944 - Françoise Hardy, French singer *1945 - Javed Akhtar, Indian lyricist, poet and scriptwriter *1948 - Davíð Oddsson, former Prime Minister of Iceland * 1948 - Jim Ladd, American freeform Disc Jockey (KLOS) * 1948 - Mick Taylor, British musician (The Rolling Stones) *1949 - Andy Kaufman, American comedian (d. 1984) *1952 - Darrell Porter, American baseball player (d. 2002) * 1952 - Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese musician *1954 - Susan Kiefel, Australian lawyer and judge *1955 - Steve Earle, American musician *1956 - Paul Young, English musician *1957 - Keith Chegwin, English television presenter * 1957 - Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian and radio personality *1959 - Susanna Hoffs, American musician * 1959 - Momoe Yamaguchi, Japanese singer and actress *1960 - John Crawford, American musician * 1960 - Chatchai Plengpanich, Thai actor *1961 - Brian Helgeland, American writer and film director *1962 - Jim Carrey, Canadian actor and comedian * 1962 - Sebastian Junger, American journalist and author *1963 - Kai Hansen, German musician/singer *1964 - Andy Rourke, English bass guitarist (The Smiths) *1965 - Sylvain Turgeon, Canadian ice hockey player * 1965 - Nikos Nioplias, Greek footballer *1966 - Stephin Merritt, American singer and songwriter (The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, The Gothic Archies) * 1966 - Shabba Ranks, Jamaican singer *1967 - Richard Hawley, English singer, guitarist and songwriter (Pulp, The Longpigs) * 1967 - Filippo Raciti, Italian police officer (d. 2007) * 1967 - Song Kang-ho, South Korean actor *1968 - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Dutch writer * 1968 - Svetlana Masterkova, Russian athlete *1969 - Lukas Moodysson, Swedish film writer and director * 1969 - Naveen Andrews, British actor * 1969 - Tijs Verwest, (DJ Tiësto) Dutch DJ *1970 - Jeremy Roenick, American ice hockey player * 1970 - Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-born animator * 1970 - James Wattana, Thai snooker player *1971 - Kid Rock, American singer * 1971 - Richard Burns, English rally driver (d. 2005) * 1971 - Youki Kudoh, Japanese actress * 1971 - Ann Wolfe, female boxer * 1971 - Leonardo Ciampa, Italian-American musician *1972 - Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter *1973 - Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer * 1973 - Liz Ellis, Australian netball captain *1974 - Yang Chen, Chinese footballer * 1974 - Derrick Mason, American football player *1975 - Tom Jenkinson, English musician (Squarepusher) * 1975 - Freddy Rodriguez, Puerto Rican-American actor *1977 - Kevin Fertig, American professional wrestler * 1977 - Leigh Whannell, Australian screenwriter/actor *1980 - Zooey Deschanel, American actress * 1980 - Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Ukrainian ballroom dancer * 1980 - Kimberly Spicer, American model * 1980 - Gareth McLearnon, Northern Irish flautist *1981 - Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer * 1981 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor * 1981 - Ray J, American R&B singer *1982 - Alex Varkatzas, American singer * 1982 - Dwyane Wade, American basketball player * 1982 - Amanda Wilkinson, Canadian singer *1983 - Johannes Herber, German basketball player * 1983 - Rick Kelly, Australian racing driver *1985 - Simone Simons, Dutch singer (Epica) * 1985 - Riyu Kosaka, Japanese singer BeForU *1985 - Kang-In,South Korean singer/dancer/actor/MC/DJ(Super Junior) Deaths * 395 - Theodosius I, Roman Emperor *1229 - Albert of Buxhoeveden, German soldier *1369 - King Peter I of Cyprus (murdered) (b. 1328) *1468 - Skanderbeg, Albanian leader (b. 1405) *1617 - Faust Vrančić, Croatian inventor (b. 1551) *1654 - Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (b. 1625) *1705 - John Ray, English naturalist (b. 1627) *1718 - Captain Benjamin Church, Plymouth Colony settler and military leader *1737 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (b. 1662) *1751 - Tomaso Albinoni, Italian composer (b. 1671) *1826 - Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga, Spanish composer (b. 1806) *1834 - Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (b. 1762) *1861 - Lola Montez, Irish-born adventurer (b. 1821) *1863 - Horace Vernet, French painter (b. 1789) *1884 - Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist (b. 1804) *1886 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (b. 1834) *1893 - Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President of the United States (b. 1822) *1903 - Ignaz Wechselmann, Hungarian architect and philanthropist (b. 1828) *1931 - Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (b. 1864) *1933 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American artist and designer (b. 1848) *1942 - Walther von Reichenau, German field marshal (b. 1884) *1947 - Pyotr Krasnov, Russian counter-revolutionary (b. 1869) * 1947 - Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, French Archbishop of Quebec (b. 1883) *1961 - Patrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1925) *1964 - T.H. White, English author (b. 1906) *1967 - Evelyn Nesbit, American actress (b. 1884) *1970 - Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoonist (b. 1890) * 1970 - Billy Stewart, American singer (b. 1937) *1972 - Betty Smith, American writer and singer (b. 1896) *1977 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer (b. 1940) *1981 - Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899) *1983 - Doodles Weaver, American actor (b. 1911) *1987 - Hugo Fregonese, Argentine film director (b. 1908) *1991 - King Olav V of Norway (b. 1903) *1993 - Albert Hourani, English historian (b. 1915) *1994 - Helen Stephens, American runner (b. 1918) *1996 - Amber Hagerman, American namesake of the Amber Alert system (b. 1986) * 1996 - Barbara Jordan, American politician (b. 1936) * 1996 - Mostafa Sid Ahmed, Sudanese singer (b. 1953) *1997 - Clyde Tombaugh, American astronomer (b. 1906) *1998 - Junior Kimbrough, American bluesman (b. 1930) *1999 - Robert Eads, American transexual (b. 1945) *2001 - Gregory Corso, American poet (b. 1930) *2002 - Bishop Karas, First Coptic Bishop of St. Antony Monastery (b. 1955) * 2002 - Camilo Jose Cela, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916) *2003 - Richard Crenna, American actor (b. 1926) *2004 - Czeslaw Niemen, Polish musician (b. 1939) * 2004 - Ray Stark, American stage and film producer (b. 1915) * 2004 - Noble Willingham, American actor (b. 1931) * 2004 - Harry Brecheen, American baseball player (b. 1914) *2005 - Charlie Bell, Australian fast food executive (b. 1960) * 2005 - Virginia Mayo, American actress (b. 1920) * 2005 - Albert Schatz, American microbiologist (b. 1920) * 2005 - Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1919) *2006 - Clarence Ray Allen, American murderer (b. 1930) * 2006 - Pierre Grondin, French Canadian cardiac surgeon (b. 1925) *2007 - Art Buchwald, American humorist (b. 1925) * 2007 - Yevhen Kushnaryov, Ukrainian politician (b. 1951) Holidays and observances * Ancient Latvia - Zirgu Diena observed Religious observances * Catholicism - Feast day of the following saints: **St. AnthonyAttwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4. **Amelbert **Sulpitius the Pious *Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church: Venerable Anthony the Great * January 17 References External links * BBC: On This Day * * On this day in Canada ---- Category:January